Quad Style: Yolanda Dong
Hi, I’m Yolanda, currently a third year in the college pursuing a double major in Psychology and Visual Arts. I participate in MODA as a designer for the show, an assistant beauty editor for the magazine, and a blog member. My hobbies and interests include mixed media art, karaoke, photoshoots, skiing and snowboarding, traveling, and playing with my pomeranian BAO.
How would you describe your personal style?
I love things that are complicated — my style too. I like to wear excessive amount of accessories — hats, sunglasses, earrings, necklace, belts, etc. — that adds on to the complexity and completeness of the look. The main color schemes are black, white, and grey while I like how colors of the accessories pop here and there. I would say that my style is also futuristic, and eccentric at times.
I had three looks for the shoot. The first was a clash of leather, denim, and fur, featuring a heavy silver chained crossbody wallet. The inner top piece is from Marine Serre, the glasses were from a collab of Fendi and Gentle Monster, and the wallet on chain is from Kara
Where do you find style inspiration?
My style always change perhaps because people like different things at different points of time. My inspiration mainly comes from Instagram and other social media platforms. I like being exposed to and learn new brands that bloggers tag in their posts. But mostly my style depends on my mood that day — what kind of look I’m feeling that day.
“My style always change perhaps because people like different things at different points of time. ”
Where do you like to shop?
I used to shop a lot in malls with my mom in middle school and high school. Nowadays I like to shop mostly online since it gets pretty cold in Chicago winters. I especially like concept shops and buyer collection stores such as ESSENSE, Opening Ceremony, 10 Corso Como, and Dover Street Market that offer wide variety of selections and creative, immersive user experiences both online and offline. It feels like buying unique concepts and aesthetics and not the clothes themselves.
The second look was a shirt with a leather corset for the top and snakeskin printed faux leather skirt for the bottom, matched with a hat from Misbhv and crystal hand bag from Alexander Wang
The third look had a corset top from Dion Lee and matching blazer and bottom shorts, matched with a vintage Prada Hobo bag and sunglasses from Celine. The platform boots I am wearing throughout the shoot is from Prada. The other pieces were from independent designers brands from Chinese and American online shops.
Do you have any fashion regrets?
I really liked to wear hairbands everyday in middle school and that has kind of become my signature look that time. In retrospect, it seems kind of naive but I guess that was how I was feeling at the time.
What is your relationship to fashion? Has it changed over time?
Fashion has definitely grown from my interest to a career path that I want to pursue in the future. I used to only pay attention to different designer brands and what celebrities wear. Now, I focus on how my outfits or styles would have conversations in particular situations and surroundings and I also try designing different makeup looks to match the style of the day. It usually take me 1.5-2 hrs to prepare my outfit and makeup and hair so I’ve definitely come to put more care and effort into fashion nowadays.
Why is fashion important to you?
Fashion is definitely a part of building my self image. It’s like a resume or an introduction of myself to others so it’s important for me to have a particular fashion style, be bold, and not to fear catching others’ attention.
“It’s like a resume or an introduction of myself to others so it’s important for me to have a particular fashion style, be bold, and not to fear catching others’ attention. ”
In your opinion, are there notable differences in style and fashion between China and here in the States?
It would be hard to say the distinctive differences in styles between China and the US because even within each country, there are different trends and styles. I would say that with the increasing mingling of cultures and easy access to information online, the boarders are blurred. Overall, I think there is a more free, comfort, and athletic vibe in the States compared to China. Very rarely would older generations in China think that it’s ok to wear leggings out.
Photos courtesy of Elliot Duprey.
